I have so much to say, it astonishes me. I know, though, that I won't be able to say it all. That's just how these things work when I don't blog right away.
The party was, by far, the best family gathering I've ever attended.
Megan called to say she'd be coming, which surprised me. I'd expected just family (with a few additions) and Greg, but having Megan there made my experience more enjoyable. There were so many people here. A lot of them are relatives that I only see at family gatherings. It was awkward forgetting who was whom, but since I don't see them regularly, I don't think they really minded. The food was pretty good, except that there was so much left over, I knew I'd be eating it for days. (There's still some left.) My cake was indeed marble, despite Giant's label. Bakeries put so much frosting on their cakes. I want to taste some cake when I eat it, not just globs of frosting. I spent most of the party talking to Greg and Megan. When "Aunt" Cookie pulled me aside for a long spiel of college advice, they talked to my Aunt Linda. She likes to talk. I finally got my laptop, which I am using right now. I also got money, and some other gifts. My Uncle John and Aunt Harding (she's my sole white relative) gave me monogrammed towels, to keep my roommate or anyone else from stealing them. They're not far out of college, so they'd know. The party ended late, so I went to bed at around 2am, but I felt loved. It was one night where I didn't mind all eyes being on me. I wish my grandma could have been there, though. I miss her.
On Sunday, I went to Megan and Stephanie's graduation party. I had fun. I always enjoy myself at parties with my friends, since I go to them so rarely. They had good food too, including Pasta Bake, which I love. I was kind of tired of barbecue food, but food is food. We played Taboo, CatchPhrase, and Cranium. Greg, Adric, and I were on the same Cranium team. Meery started cracking on us, saying that our being on the same team was unfair because we "have the same brain." I can't help it if we spend so much time together that we understand each other. Even if I could help it, I wouldn't. And for the record, Meery's team won, so our same-brainness didn't help us
that much. After games, we went outside to play before it got pitch-black. We played volleyball first. I didn't suck. I did manage to fall in a hole, though. I guess their new dog likes to dig. I was wearing sandals, so my foot got all dirty. Everyone played dodgeball and freeze tag after that. Had I been wearing normal shoes, I would have played. But, as I already get blisters and I can't run regardless, I sat out. I wanted to play. I still had a great time. I'm going to miss all this. It just can't be the same next year, you know?
Speaking of next year, my UMD orientation Monday and Tuesday involved a lot of information about that. I had to get up at the crack of dawn to be there on time, but senior year helped me get used to operating on low sleep. The orientation itself was lots of moving around campus, meetings, and papers. At check-in, I realized i should have brought a backpack, since I was stuck carrying around a small stack of books and folders all day. My psychic powers kicked in at registration. I knew that as soon as I left for the bathroom, my advisor would show up, so I waited. Finally I just went, so of course she was there when I got back. Though, as my Orientation Advisor, Maighdlin (like Mary Magdalene, but the Gaelic spelling) pointed out, fate may have kept her away
until I left. It turns out that, since I don't intend to major in anything relating to math or science, I can get away with Probability and Statistics and be done with math altogether. Yay, no calculus! I think I need to change my schedule, though. I only have one class on Friday, and it's at 2pm, which is not going to work. I can have 2 classes on Friday, or none. Not just one. Especially not math. I will have
zero motivation to go.
My general impression of college is that I can do it. I can get used to sharing a space roughly the size of my current room with a complete stranger. I can get used to using communal bathrooms on a daily basis. (I just have to stop getting hurt. At MLW, I stubbed my toe getting in the shower. At UMD, I cut my knuckle on an upturned razor.) I just have to build new habits. Once I can go into autopilot, I'll be fine. I also might need new sneakers. I can tell I'll be doing a lot of walking. Maryland has a lot of hills. I'm hoping that schlepping around campus will do for my legs what carrying so many books did for my arms. (Hello, biceps.) I think I can handle the work, but I won't really know until it's assigned. I'm already used to late nights.
On Wednesday, I started another closet at work. You would not believe the sheer accumulation there is in that house. After work, Greg took me to see
Saved! at Hoffman. It was great. All the acting was good, especially Mandy's. "She makes a good villainess," said Greg. It was funny and dramatic, and it had a good message. Fundamentalist Christians would likely be horribly offended by it, seeing as they are the focus of the film, and they're not portrayed as the good guys. All the characters were great, especially Macaulay Culkin's (yes, he's still alive and acting, he's just not ten years old anymore), though I though Patrick Fugit's character was underused. I will definitely buy this when it's out on DVD. I'm still on the fence over
Chasing Liberty, but Mandy's performance was stellar. Indie films are so underappreciated, with the exception of the fabulous
My Big Fat Greek Wedding. If you get the chance, you should definitely see it. You'll leave feeling quite satisfied. I knew the basic plot from weeks of stalking Moviefone for
Saved! to enter wide release, but there was enough in the movie to keep me surprised and entertained.
Yesterday, I didn't do much. I continued trying to set up my computer properly. It's a Dell Inspiron 1150, all silver and quite nifty. I'm learning how to use Windows XP and adjusting to typing on a laptop keyboard. My mom bought me a cute little mini-mouse, but I haven't connected it yet. I'm also getting used to 1024x768. Now Rajni's site is lined up better, and mine is
not the way I meant it to be. I have PSP8, though I haven't used it, so once I get my files transferred, I should be able to fix everything. The transfer process is going to be arduous, though. The big computer, as I now refer to it, has a completely non-functional CD drive, even with the memory my dad added. If the CD drive would work for, like, fifteen minutes, I could use my XP CD to transfer the rest of my files and be done with it. Alas, for now I'm stuck with uploading to Yahoo! Briefcase and downloading onto my new baby. It sucks, but it's working.
Greg and I had a fight last night. Nothing serious; they rarely are. I think we were just overdue for some good therapeutic yelling. My parents do the same thing. After sleeping on it, I apologized, and we're fine now. Oh, and Andra? I don't think "interesting" is the appropriate term for InPerson!Greg, but hopefully you'll be able to find out for yourself. Tonight we're going out to see... I actually don't know. It won't be horror, so I'm good.
Back to the briefcase for now.
